A MAJOR international drinks company claims North Wales Police may have infringed its trademark with its “blinged up” new road safety van.

The customised van launched last week and aimed at getting a safety message across to young drivers, has a startling likeness with the trademark and livery of the famous Martini brand.

Now the drinks company wants talks with NWP about whether they can “come to any sort of mutual agreement”.

A spokesperson for the company said: “Bacardi-Martini Limited is very proud of its trademarks and would always wish to see them used in the correct context with the correct approval.

“At this stage, the MARTINI ® brand is not directly involved in the North Wales Police initiative and there are potential trademark infringements surrounding this campaign.

“However, Bacardi-Martini Limited is supportive of campaigns aiming to tackle anti-social issues within any community and we will be looking to have further conversations with the North Wales Police to see if we can come to any sort of mutual agreement.”

The similarities were spotted by Mr Stan Hughes of Mold who described it as a “PR disaster”.

He said: “ The livery is that of a major drinks manufacturer (Martini) that has been involved in the sponsorship of top-flight motorsport for over 25 years.

“The link between alcohol and road safety is one we are all aware of and should not be glamorised in this way. Is this the message that we want to send out to drivers of any age let alone the younger ones?

“My second concern is that of copyright infringement. The Police and Heddlu signs set within a rectangle and circle is a copy of the Martini logo.

“As North Wales Police are constantly asking the rate payers for additional funds I would far rather it went on employing more police officers than paying legal fees and court costs should they be taken to task.”

A spokeswoman for the road safety charity Brake said last night “how unfortunate” it was for North Wales Police, but she did not see why a drinks company should not help promote road safety.

“As long as there is nothing detrimental in getting the road safety message across I don’t see why they should not be involved.”

A NWP spokeswoman said: “It was never our intention to replicate this brand and we have had no representations from Bacardi Martini. Our intention was, and always will be to engage proactively with young drivers to save lives.”

l THE van has been converted in the style of the Pimp My Ride TV show with the latest in mobile sounds and video. It will be taken to events, packed full of safety information aimed particularly at boy-racers.